We find several times in the Torah, G-d telling the Israelites to wage war. (The one that I just read is in Numbers 25:16.) This is one of the departure points for non-believers to find an “Aha!” “You see,” goes the argument, “this is their peace loving G-d.”
Let’s be honest. I can hear the argument. Don’t these believers paint a picture of a loving G-d, desirous of all of mankind to enjoy a life of blessing and joy! This same G-d commands war against a nation simply for living on a piece of land. We, of seeming advanced consciousness and civility, can easily recognize that there are more peaceful ways to handle our disputes. Yet, this supposed G-d of the Bible seems to be a war monger. What’s with this?
Let me put my bias on the table. I don’t present this as a proof that G-d wrote the Torah, but I fully admit that this is my starting point. Instead of starting with my American, western, modern sensitivities and poking holes in what seems to be problematic text, my starting point is a Divine and flawless author. It is now my job to understand how this fits with my sensitivities. If there is discord between me and G-d, guess who’s wrong? (There are people who like to point to Abraham arguing with G-d about the destruction of Sodom as proof that G-d is fallible. I’ll add it to my list of topics to blog about, but this is simply not the traditional take on that dialog. Until reform Judaism, there is no discussion about G-d’s mistakes.)
So, back to our topic: how can war be ordered by G-d? And the frightening question that follows is, “Where can this idea lead to?” If I think that G-d orders war, then what’s the difference between me and an Islamic terrorist?
Maybe this is what a friend of mine calls a “guy thing,” but this first question is incredibly self evident to honest men. (True, I don’t like name calling, and I did just imply that if you disagree with me on this that you are dishonest. I’ll try to justify such a passively aggressive attack (which I think I just made less passive aggressive and more direct if you’re keeping track).)
The guy thing is that there is a time to fight. Before you slam the phone down on this post, hear me out. Personally, I have neither been hit nor struck a person with the intent to hurt in my entire adult life (near to 30 years). Bar fights are almost always stupid and wanton acts of violence. (Nor am I fan of world wide wrestling, but that just may be a sign of great evolutionary steps in human development, so I don’t want to be critical.)
The Guy Thing Fight Theory states that pacifism is wrong.
To make as many attempts as possible to settle disputes without violence is honorable and commendable, but there is sometimes a time to fight and even sometimes a time to kill.
The most simple example would be when a person comes to hurt or kill innocent people. It is obvious that we’ll rapidly approach a slippery slope, but there are times when it is not only right to kill, but it would be wrong to avoid killing (think armed killer at kindergarten). Just to stop anyone ready to pounce on me, it is also true that this isn’t really a guy thing. A woman should also know that there is a time to fight or kill; it’s just that I’m a hopelessly traditional guy proud to be taking care of my wife and children. Me big strong man. Woman no fight when big strong man here. Ugh.
Why then does a loving G-d command the Jews to wage war? It is a very sad fact that war is sometimes necessary. We came from Paradise, and we are heading back there, but now . . . we’re stuck here with each other and some of us want to slaughter the others. Part of serving a loving G-d is a readiness to wage war. You go on a preemptive strike when your intelligence is clear that this is the only option. When G-d commanded the Jews to wage war, there was no flaw in the intelligence. The WMD were there.
The difference between this and Radical Islam? G-d’s revelation to the Jews was to an entire nation. His reality was firmly established for each and every one there. There was no dissent amongst the people as to who was the leader and what was the chain of command. It was a direct relationship between G-d and His nation. With Islam (and others waging war in the name of G-d), the people put their faith in violent hate filled men whose positions have never been substantiated publicly by G-d through public revelation. Their followers have the same perverse hate-centered world of death and destruction. The Jews have never waged as much as an arm wrestling match because of our great pain about an insulting cartoon. The differences are . . . distinct.
